Q&A: Sonja Vandenberk, Ford Europe’s chief colour and materials designer, on how Vignale will evolve

Formed in 1948, Vignale was once a famous Italian coachbuilder responsible for beautiful car bodies, and some small-scale production for Fiat, Ferrari, Maserati and more. But founder Alfredo died in a road accident in 1969 and the brand ended up being sold to Ford in 1974 alongside another Italian coach-building brand, Ghia.

1993 Aston Martin Lagonda Vignale

Long dormant, besides its name adorning the odd concept car – including the 1993 Aston Martin Lagonda Vignale designed by Moray Callum, now Ford’s global design boss – the Blue Oval finally decided to use the name for its premium sub-brand in 2013.

It is now expanding Vignale across its car range and selling them in bespoke dealership lounges, with special customer apps and services plus limited-run accessories to add to the lifestyle approach.

Sonja Vandenberk, Ford

Sceptical – given how Ford reduced Ghia from a once-proud coachbuilding name to a mere trim level, before quietly dropping it completely in 2010 – but with ears open, Car Design News recently caught up with Sonja Vandenberk, Ford of Europe’s chief designer of colour and materials, to talk working with premium suppliers, her architectural influences and how she sees Vignale becoming a different proposition…

Car Design News Why did Ford resurrect Vignale and what’s your involvement?

Sonja Vandenberk It started before I joined the company. It was an idea from marketing and design. Owning the name Vignale they saw it as an opportunity in Europe [the trim won’t be in the US]. Our flagships don’t have that next level where customers can tick a box. Other carmakers have a free flow of options, like a premium leather seat, but Ford wanted to set up Vignale as a separate line.

Ford Kuga Vignale

The Mondeo version has already been shown, where the exterior is a bit more subtle on the chrome execution, but the whole range [will get Vignale] from Edge, to S-Max and Kuga.

CDN How have you influenced Vignale’s direction?

SV The classic approach was established with the Mondeo and now we are working on next-generation ideas so my influence is making sure Vignale is tailored perfectly to every new car. The metal inlays [between the dash top and glovebox] on the new Edge and S-Max are examples of elements that make the cars even more authentic.

Ford Edge Vignale

CDN Are those filets cold-touch metal?

SV Exactly, in the normal car this part would be painted, but for the Vignale we used aluminium with a printed pattern. The inlay is a plastic part with a one-millimetre thick layer of aluminium on top. I work with the suppliers to make sure it’s executed properly. The Edge is still a muscular car so the pattern in there isn’t too decorative. We didn’t repeat the hexagon shape, we just used some carbon-inspired print, and in warmer tones, so it goes nicely with the unique exterior colour available on the Edge – Ametista Scura – it’s a very dark burgundy/brown metallic.

CDN Will you keep the Ford name on Vignale versions?

SV We feel very strongly about the cars being Ford Vignales – not Vignale as an independent brand. It’s for customers who have reached a level where they would potentially move to another brand. It is not only the material execution but about quality of life.

CDN You did the Ford Individual programme for a while though, too?

SV We did, with a lot of personalisation, but this is a next level.

Ford Vignale lounge, Rome

CDN Maybe it was similar, but you didn’t brand it through to the dealerships in the same way?

SV Absolutely, the dealer areas will look a bit like the Geneva motor show stand with a little lounge and Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chairs. They are real ones too!

Ford S-Max Vignale

CDN How do the S-Max and Edge Vignale versions differ?

SV They have the same interior treatment, but the S-Max has dark chrome wheels, and we’ve taken off some of the exterior chrome with a white exterior body colour which makes it look very sporty.

CDN What are the interior details that make a Vignale?

SV There’s the [already mentioned] one-millimetre aluminium filet and a leather covering to the dash top with contrast stitching. It’s real leather, but there’s some good leatherette out there too, so I’m not saying we’d never use that in smaller cars like the Fiesta perhaps.

Ford Kuga Vignale interior

What we do is look at the placement of the stitching – as it comes from the passenger-side IP to the centre console for example – it’s a big piece of leather that needs to wrap in a certain direction. That’s where most of the time as a team goes. We do quick sketches and then go to engineering and they work on stitch length and so on.

We have different suppliers involved. The materials for the Edge’s IP are by Eissmann. They are renowned inside the industry for working with premium brands. Next to Ford, they’re doing Porsches and more, so they know their stuff. That relationship is helping us on seating too. The material has to be as matte as possible to give a European flavour. In North America you might work on stronger grains of leather, but the European versions are almost without texture.

Ford Edge Vignale rear seats

CDN Are your upmarket ambitions matched by a budget to execute them?

SV It’s a working relationship with the engineers and they have their cost targets. There are many discussions – sometimes heated, sometimes less so – and the costs we added in the cars now, maybe we need to distribute differently. So it’s up to us to figure out how we do that even better, and make sure it’s within the context of what our customers really want.

CDN What design area or designers do you admire outside of the car industry?

Peter Zumthor’s Kolumba Museum, Cologne

SV Originally, it was architecture for me… and I think it still is. I’m a big fan of a [Pritzker Prize-winning] Swiss minimalist architect called Peter Zumthor. He designed a spa in Vals, Switzerland, and the Kolumba Museum in Cologne, where I’m based, and a chapel there too.

He designs materials, and even redesigned the size of the bricks he wanted to optimise the proportion of the brick to the mortar – they’re the same size. He thinks in materials while he’s designing, and as a colour and materials designer that’s what you want to do. You don’t want to become someone who just dresses up the cars, you want a more constructional way of thinking when building cars.